When one given gene affects several traits (ex: a gene for myopia is also associated with higher IQ)

"the mammalian ambivalance"

The tendency of humans to put their own needs and the needs of close family ahead of those of others

Races

Subgroups of the human species with substantial differences in the frequencies of some genes

language acquisition device (LAD)

The innate, biologically-determined capacity of humans to learn to speak any language

l'arbitraire du signe"

French for the arbitrary nature of signs; means that symbols of language are genetically independent and arbitrary compared with signals

Blueprint copying

Copy and/or modify an available detailed "blueprint"

Idea diffusion

Borrow the basic idea of the innovation but reinvent the details

Cultural information

Knowledge acquired through experience and conveyed through symbols

Ideology

Information used to interpret experience and help order societal life; composed of BELIEFS, not behaviors or institutions

Technology

Information about how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires

Who wrote "The Origin of Species" in 1859 which proposed the idea of natural selection?

Charles Darwin

What 3 processes is natural selection based upon?

1)organisms have a tendency to multiply indefinitely, 2)they vary with respect to characteristics that affect their survival and reproduction, 3)these traits are heritable (traits of parents are passed on to their offspring)

What is a major principle of sociobiology?

The belief that natural selection operates at the level of the gene (rather than the level of the individual, group, or species)

Why "small enough to last for a large number of generations"?

Because of crossing over, smaller genetic units (=shorter segments of DNA) are more likely to remain intact over many generations

According to the gene-centered theory of evolution, what is the organism?

A "survival machine" for the genes

Group selectionism

The idea that a trait can evolve because it is "good for the species"; rejected by most biologists today

Gene

The basic unit of selection; evolution is the differential reproduction of genes

Individual

Viewed as a "survival machine" designed by its genes for their survival and reproduction, or as a "strategist" in pursuit of reproductive success

Group/species

Almost never a unit of selection (except in rare cases), so that the evolution of behavior cannot be explained by selection "for the good of the group"

In the modern view of evolution, what is the basic unit of natural selection?

The GENE

Altruism

Refers to a behavior that benefits others at a cost (in reproductive fitness) to the individual organism engaging in the behavior

What is the paradox of altruism?

How can a behavior evolve by natural selection if it lowers the reproductive fitness of the individual who engages in it?

What are the 2 answers of sociobiology/evolutionary psychology to the paradoxes of altruism and cooperation?

1)the mechanism of relatedness (or "kin selection") with the notion of inclusive fitness and explain the evolution of altruistic behavior, 2)the mechanism of reciprocity can explainn the evolution of cooperation

Hamilton's theory of the evolution of altruism

To understand the evolution of behavior, one must consider the effect of that behavior on the inclusive fitness of the individual organism

Inclusive fitness of individual organism = ?

Own reproductive success + reproductive success of kin multiplied by degree of relatedness

Altruistic behavior

Behavior that is beneficial to others at a cost in fitness (reduced reproductive success) for the organism engaging in the behavior

Refers to animal societies such as bees in which the workers are sterile; only the queen reproduces

Avuncular relationship

In this custom the maternal uncle assumes a greater role in raising the child than the "father"; more prevalent in societies that have a high incidence of adultery because of uncertainities concerning the identity of the father

Incest

Sexual relations between close relatives; avoidance of incest is a universal feature of human societies

Inbreeding depression

The accumulation of deleterious recessive genes in inbred individuals (one reason for avoidance of incest)

What is a kibbutz?

Experiment in Israel; a collective farm or community that tried to raise children away from their parents

The finding that unrelated children raised together in Israeli kibbutzim do not have sexual relations as adults is an instance of what phenomenon?

Westermark effect

Reciprocal altruism (contingent reciprocity)

There is trading of beneficial acts so that over a period of time both participants enjoy a net gain in fitness (important to note that the individual is always tempted to cheat and adopt a selfish strategy); Robert Trivers's theory

What is the central insight to reciprocal altruism?

If interactions among individuals are frequent and repeated, individuals may "punish" cheaters by withholding future cooperation

Prisoner's Dilemma

A matrix set-up; helps explain evolution of cooperation

What is an iterated Prisoner's Dilemma?

Prisoner's Dilemma is repeated with the same players; the logic of the iterated PD suggests that cooperation based on the tit-for-tat strategy can evolve among individuals interacting repeatedly for extended periods

Tit-for-tat strategy

Begins with cooperation, then mimics other player's moves; Robert Axelrod shows that this strategy is optimal against pure cooperation, pure defection, and itself

In general, how does one call a strategy of behavior that cannot be improved upon if most members of a population adopt it?

Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS) - TFT is ALMOST an ESS

What did Leda Cosmides and John Tooby do?

Their experiments show evidence for a "cheater detection" module - the existence of a specialized mental mechanism to detect cheaters in social exchange

Parthenogenesis

Asexual reproduction

What is the main advantage of sexual reproduction?

It enhances the genetic variability of the offspring, allowing adaptation to unforseen environments, and resistance to co-evolving parasites

Effective polygyny =

(Variance in reproductive success(RS) of males)/(Variance in RS of females); a measure of reproductive competition among males

Parental investment

"any investment by the parent in an individual offspring that increases the offspring's chance of surviving (and hence reproductive success) at the cost of the parent's ability to invest in other offspring" - Robert Trivers

Who is A.J. Bateman?

Conducted an experiment with fruit flies; found out that males gain by mating with more than one female and that males have greater variance in reproductive success

Because of different reproductive strategies men generally have a higher mean number of sexual partners?

False

Because of different reproductive strategies men generally have a higher variance in number of sexual partners?

True

What are the three female strategies?

1)Domestic Bliss, 2)He-Man, 3)Madame Bovary

What happens in the domestic bliss strategy?

Female tries to find a male who will stick around and help care for the offspring; look for signs of domesticity and control of resources

What happens in the he-man strategy?

In species in which males do not participate in raising the offspring, all a female can do is try at least to select a male with "good genes"; look for an older male and one with the most conspicuous display

What happens in the Madame Bovary strategy?

Female tries to keep a husband to provide care for the offspring, as well as a lover to provide "good genes"; high incidence of extra-pair copulation

Estrus

A distinct period of sexual receptivity, or "heat"; does not exist in humans perhaps because it makes it harder for the male to track the sexual activity of the female

What is believed to be a "counterstrategy" to the Madame Bovary strategy?

Jealousy

What are the two male strategies?

1)Dad or 2)Cad

What happens in the Dad strategy?

Males invest parentally and are under selective pressure to prevent their mate from being inseminated by another male; generally exhibit jealousy and certain guarding behaviors

What happens in the Cad strategy?

The male has no parental investment

Sexual dimorphism

Difference in size and appearance between male and female; a greater sexual dimorphism is associated with a greater degree of polygyny (humans is 1.08, suggests they are mildly polygynous)

Polyandry

One female, many males

Which marriage practice (monogamy, polygyny, polyandry) is most common among human societies? Among human marriages?

Polygyny among human societies; monogamy among human marriages

What does sex differentiation depend on?

Hormonal exposure during early development in the womb (the organizing role of hormones) and later production of hormones at puberty (the activating role of hormones)

What is the r-strategy of reproduction?

Many offspring with high mortality rate

What is the K-strategy of reproduction?

Few offspring with low mortality rate

Are the human species r-strategists or K-strategists?

K-strategists

What is a meme?

A cultural gene; "an 'idea-meme' is an entity that is capable of being transmitted from one brain to another" (SG)

What is the meme analogous to?

The gene; a unit of imitation; a new kind of replicator

What are the three mechanisms of evolution (biological or sociocultural)?

1)Continuity, 2)Innovation, 3)Selection

What are some mechanisms of continuity?

1)Conscious recognition of adapative value of an item, 2)Standaradized behavior, 3)Cost of changing (learning a new convention), 4)Socialization and tradition, 5)Systematic nature of society, and resulting opposition by groups adversely affected by change

1)Human needs, 2)Environmental change, 3)Diffusion by contact with other societies, 4)Existing store of cultural information: the larger the number of items of information, the larger the number of combinations of these items

What is the multiplier effect?

Innovations are often combinations of existing items in the culture... each new innovation increases the probability of acquiring more

What are some differences between modern and prehistoric H&G societies?

1)Modern H&G societies have often been in contact with more advanced societies and have acquired modern artifacts, 2)Modern H&G societies have been excluded from the more desirable (productive) regions of the world and forced into marginal habitats (ex: jungle, desert)?

What is the official name for our species?

homo sapiens sapiens

What may have contributed to the rising rate of technological innovation?

Extended kin groups; ancestor worship is related to the central role of kinship

83%

Percentage of advanced horticultural societies where slavery was present

"Japhetic"

James Parsons noted similarities among numerals of several European languages

Colin Renfrew

Controversial theory stating that Indo-European languages and horticultural technology spread together as a "population wave of advance" caused by the higher population density allowed by horticultural technology compared to H&G technology

What does the independent emergence of horticulture in the New World suggest?